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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: ChaoticLlama on Tue, 15 March 2011, 21:46:52

Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: ChaoticLlama on Tue, 15 March 2011, 21:46:52
Hey everyone.

I'm looking into purchasing my first mechanical keyboard.

After much research, I'm fairly convinced that I want Cherry Browns (even though I've only touched blacks/blues from unpacking KBs in stores ~_~).

Anyway, I'm looking at purchasing Das Professional Silent (http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52502&vpn=DASK3PROMS1SI%20%288%2055800%2000118%200%29&manufacture=Metadot) from NCIX. Essentially, I'm wondering: is there any reason not to make this purchase? Of course I was also waiting for the Leopolds from EKB (http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,tenkeyless) to be released, but I'm somewhat underwhelmed and troubled by the "end of March" shipping date.

The reason I ask is that I haven't seen many members with Das keyboards and I don't want to be screwed on such an expensive product. With tax I'm looking at ~$140, so I want to make an intelligent choice.



And so on.

Thanks for your advice!
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: prpnightmare on Tue, 15 March 2011, 22:02:33
I have the Das Silent, and I love it. It is solidly built, is a dream to type on, and looks pretty sweet. I got it for 20% off awhile back, so it was an even better deal.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: Armando Penblade on Tue, 15 March 2011, 22:03:57
Check to see if your retailer honors Das's student discount, or if you could potentially order directly from Das. I doubt they will, but it's at least worth looking into.

The Das S line are fantastic, well-made keyboards. They're not 100% absolute top-of-the-line, but they are massively superior to shoddy low-end boards like the Scorpius M10.

The older Das models had some showstopping bugs or odd behaviors, but this latest revision seems to have taken care of all that, so you should feel relatively safe with your purchase--as safe as you can with a $140 product, at least :)

The Leopold will be a nice, well-built, reasonably sized keyboard for potentially less money. You'll lose your numpad and, unless my memory's gone fuzzy, also your extra ports on the right side of the keyboard. With shipping to Canada, you won't necessarily save a lot of money going with that smaller, later-shipping keyboard.

About the only thing people consistently say they don't like about Das keyboards is their case coating, which is super shiny and therefore tends to collect fingerprints, dust, and more nasties from all around and display them very prominently. If you think this will tweak your OCD and drive you mad, reconsider the Das :)
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: BucklingSpring on Tue, 15 March 2011, 22:25:54
Quote from: Armando Penblade;312454
About the only thing people consistently say they don't like about Das keyboards is their case coating, which is super shiny and therefore tends to collect fingerprints, dust, and more nasties from all around and display them very prominently. If you think this will tweak your OCD and drive you mad, reconsider the Das :)


LoL this is so funny.

The marketing guys says the DAS glossy finish is Darth Vader approved!

I own one and it doesn't bother me at all.
The Force is strong in this one... But as opposed to DV it is good Force.

heheheh
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: sam113101 on Tue, 15 March 2011, 22:54:23
I don't really like the glossy casing. The USB cable is bigger than average because of the USB hub, and I never used that hub. Also, the key caps suck, the ones that are on my unicomp spacesaver are WAY better.

I paid 108$ for the keyboard itself, 15$ for express shipping, got it the day after I bought it. That was a ****ing good deal, for a starter board (that was my first mech keyboard). Mine has media keys, which is something I like about it (could have been the right win key though, it is the left one and it is the one that I use the most usually).
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: ChaoticLlama on Tue, 15 March 2011, 23:08:34
Quote from: prpnightmare;312452
I have the Das Silent, and I love it. It is solidly built, is a dream to type on, and looks pretty sweet. I got it for 20% off awhile back, so it was an even better deal.


Yeah I saw that student deal. It looks really awesome but only seems to work if you order through the official Das website with a student ID. Unfortunately I live in Canada! So ordering from their website to get the deal appears to be out of the question.

Thanks for the replies so far.

Please continue to comment on the pros and cons that you know of/have experienced.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: Cryptoman on Tue, 15 March 2011, 23:33:05
Have you decided on layout?  I'm now convinced that the numeric pad is the worst addition ever to keyboards, so I wouldn't buy a Das for that reason.  I recently decided to venture out beyond my collection of Model Ms and sample something with Cherry switches, so I settled on the Leupold tenkeyless with browns.  Elite Keyboards seems to have a good reputation, and I don't mind waiting.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: xjchew on Wed, 16 March 2011, 00:39:20
well.. in case u bought the DAS and dont really like the Darth Vader approved case (like me), u could probably take it apart (but void ur warranty in the process) and spray the damn thing. i'm planning to spray it matt black with some red/gold accent and change the LEDs to red LEDs.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: routermonkey on Wed, 16 March 2011, 01:00:04
If you live in Canada, order it from directcanada.com, it's only $108 there, That's where I got it from. I think they're run by NCIX anyway, but their pricing is often cheaper. Also, they were running a free ground shipping promo, which I think is still on.

I love mine. I just make sure to clean it with the microfibre cloth every day...

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=26450ID4394&vpn=DASK3PROMS1SI%20%288%2055800%2000118%200%29&manufacture=Metadot (http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=26450ID4394&vpn=DASK3PROMS1SI%20%288%2055800%2000118%200%29&manufacture=Metadot)
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: db_Iodine on Wed, 16 March 2011, 04:13:43
It's a solid keyboards really. The only reason not to buy one would be the glossy finish that some people don't like. If you want it to keep looking good, you need to give it a quick wipe every other day.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: 3one5 on Wed, 16 March 2011, 08:03:12
Troubled by the end of March shipping date?  You do know that March only has 31 days in it right?
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: kazie on Wed, 16 March 2011, 09:55:04
From what I have noticed in these boards, you have a following trends that may lead to indecision about what to choose:

Filco: EK carried Filco, helping create the illusion of them being insanely top notch. In reality, any proper quality control procedure will make any product seem amazing as they weed out the duds. Filco now is rare for some of us (US) or overly expensive, so its talked about a lot.

Leopolds: EK new thing with an extremely illusive release date. As it stands the words "end of march" i.e. The end of the month of march i.e. its last day being the 31st, seems like an impossible concept for people to grasp, so that creates a lot of chatter.

DAS: People who have them, love them. People who hate cleaning, detest them. People who think that 10 keys are made for mutants, also hate them.

All other brands: have not seen enough trends about them, mind you, I am relatively new to these boards, but like you, have spent a lot of time recently fishing for information, opinions, and testimonies.

Your selection of a DAS is solid far as a mechanical board goes. Preferences will be the only legitimate reason to stop you from buying one.  A friend of mine has one, and she likes shiny ^_^
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: kazie on Wed, 16 March 2011, 10:09:54
Quote from: ripster;312660

Keyboards are even MORE of an individual taste than monitors or NotBooks.  


The fact that you can replace the word "keyboards" in this statement with women, teenagers, boobs, bagels, greek yogurt, toilet paper, or puppies and still have it be a proper sentence, is amazing to me.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: 3one5 on Wed, 16 March 2011, 10:25:28
Quote from: ripster;312649
April 1 ship date IS a possiblility.
Show Image
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5056/5490535937_4451d9d95c_z.jpg)


But then the panda dies, right?
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: 3one5 on Wed, 16 March 2011, 10:28:39
Quote from: ripster;312677
Definitely.

I will skin him alive.


That sounds reasonable to me.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: 3one5 on Wed, 16 March 2011, 10:38:50
Quote from: ripster;312680
He's being treated well in Captivity.  

Enjoys his Acupuncture.  Likes the girl.

Stockholm Syndrome.

I think I saw that image in a PETA training manual somewhere.  Perfectly acceptable.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: Armando Penblade on Wed, 16 March 2011, 10:56:46
Quote from: kazie;312662
women, teenagers, boobs


You have a very one-track and possibly illegal mind ;)
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: db_Iodine on Wed, 16 March 2011, 11:00:05
Reasons not to buy a Das:
-Dead Panda
-Toilet paper

Anything more?
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: krazymunky on Wed, 16 March 2011, 11:20:38
Quote from: Armando Penblade;312694
You have a very one-track and possibly illegal mind ;)


18+ is still considered teenager and legal. and i use charmin.

different people like different keyboards and switches.

if you dont like the das kb, just sell it. you wont lose that much i think from selling it used.

i just got a 6gv2 because it was 30% off...and now that i know i hate black switches...im probably going to sell it after a weeks use lol
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: pitashen on Wed, 16 March 2011, 11:24:32
seriously
wait for EK
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: db_Iodine on Wed, 16 March 2011, 11:27:53
Quote from: krazymunky;312700
18+ is still considered teenager and legal. and i use charmin.


I've always thought that teenagers are 13-19. The way I think is "in their teens" like: thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen.

Are my thoughts way off from what you guys think how old teenagers can be? But anyway, yes, one can be legal and a teenager.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: rustybarnacle on Wed, 16 March 2011, 11:38:53
Das keyboard makes a nice board.  I have two of them, and have been happy with the quality and reliability.  I have also just purchased a couple tenkeyless boards (a noppoo choc mini and pre-ordered a leopold), and I'd like to get a KBC poker as well.  In other words:

just run.  Don't get any of them, for you start down the dark path of mechanical addiction from which there is no return.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: krazymunky on Wed, 16 March 2011, 11:45:10
Quote from: rustybarnacle;312707
just run.  Don't get any of them, for you start down the dark path of mechanical addiction from which there is no return.

this.  get out of geekhack before you purchase youre first mech keyboard. or else it becomes into...10+ which some people in this forum have lol

das boards are more 'modern' looking then the other 'non gaming' mechanical keyboards available. and with the student discount you can get it for around $100-$110.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: mojojj13 on Wed, 16 March 2011, 15:19:38
Quote from: ChaoticLlama;312447
Hey everyone.

I'm looking into purchasing my first mechanical keyboard.

After much research, I'm fairly convinced that I want Cherry Browns (even though I've only touched blacks/blues from unpacking KBs in stores ~_~).

Anyway, I'm looking at purchasing Das Professional Silent (http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52502&vpn=DASK3PROMS1SI%20%288%2055800%2000118%200%29&manufacture=Metadot) from NCIX. Essentially, I'm wondering: is there any reason not to make this purchase? Of course I was also waiting for the Leopolds from EKB (http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,tenkeyless) to be released, but I'm somewhat underwhelmed and troubled by the "end of March" shipping date.

The reason I ask is that I haven't seen many members with Das keyboards and I don't want to be screwed on such an expensive product. With tax I'm looking at ~$140, so I want to make an intelligent choice.

  • Should I wait for a sale?
  • Should I purchase Leopold for reason X?
  • Are there quality issues with Das?


And so on.

Thanks for your advice!


I've got a Das Prof S Silent, also purchased from NCIX.  I love it - it's a great keyboard.  The only peeves I have is that it's glossy and doesn't have media controls.  I consider those pretty minor though.

The thing with living in Canada is that there's only one MX Brown keyboard that you can buy locally - the Das S Silent.  Maybe two if you also count the Das S Ultimate.  Luckily they're both pretty decent boards.

I'm happy with my purchase.  

A piece of advice - try to get it price matched.  I was able to do it for mine when I bought it from NCIX.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: 3one5 on Wed, 16 March 2011, 16:25:05
Quote from: ripster;312690
The Panda is into swedish blondes.


Who isn't?
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: Reaif on Wed, 16 March 2011, 16:26:59
I have a das ultimate silent. I actually really like the keyboard, in addition to the usb ports. The reason I like the extra ports so much is because I have a mouse that has an unusually short cord (an early optical mouse meant for laptops before portable mice became REALLY small) and this way I don't have to have a usb extender to use the mouse. It is also nice for the occasional thumb drive.

There are only two things I can think of that are less than great about this keyboard.
1) Glossy. It looks good if you maintain it, but I am lazy.
2) The bezel is a little larger than it needs to be.

Both of these things are so minor though, that they don't bother me regularly. They are just things that I intend to avoid for my next purchase. For my next board, I'll probably go with one of the leopolds (most likely the one with blue switches) or the filco on amazon with reds. I am starting to like the idea of a tenkeyless design, seeing as the keyboard I use at home doesn't have one, and I have been just fine without.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: ChaoticLlama on Wed, 16 March 2011, 19:39:17
Quote from: mojojj13;312838
A piece of advice - try to get it price matched.  I was able to do it for mine when I bought it from NCIX.


So I can use the price from directcanada.com and price match it at NCIX?

What kind of savings do they offer?
Does this even work? I've heard that directcanada is owned by NCIX which makes me curious.

Thanks for all the responses! I'm a little confused by the pandas though ~_~
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: BucklingSpring on Wed, 16 March 2011, 20:01:05
Quote from: routermonkey;312511
If you live in Canada, order it from directcanada.com, it's only $108 there


Great find! Many thanks.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: ChaoticLlama on Wed, 16 March 2011, 20:34:50
I took a look at it at price matching.
The online price matcher for NCIX just drops the price to $108; same as the directcanada price.

Might as well just order from there!
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: panda-R on Wed, 16 March 2011, 20:38:43
seriously, blondes are by far my favorite and that definitely is a good reason to not buy a DAS or is a good reason to buy a DAS.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: ChaoticLlama on Thu, 17 March 2011, 23:01:05
Dude, what's going on?

DirectCanada doesn't sell the keyboard that I'm looking for.

Look Here. (http://www.directcanada.com/category/?minorcatid=1046&vendorid=2645)

When can I expect them to have it in stock? It sounded like a great deal - that board for $108 as you said. But the don't have the Professional Silent.

How does directcanada work without inventory?
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: Exoverture on Fri, 18 March 2011, 00:01:52
I have a Das Professional Silent S and a Filco Tenkeyless Brown...

Both brown switches. For some reason, the Filco feels noticeably different. Looks wise, Filco takes the cake, and while typing on it, the Filco feels a lot more sturdier.

I typed on the DAS for approximately 9-10 months. It did make a big difference switching.
Title: Reason not to buy Das Professional Silent
Post by: routermonkey on Fri, 18 March 2011, 15:25:14
It must have gone out of stock, they had them when I posted the link (and like I said, that's where I got mine from.)

Maybe BucklingSpring snagged the last one? :confused:

Quote from: ChaoticLlama;313752
Dude, what's going on?

DirectCanada doesn't sell the keyboard that I'm looking for.

Look Here. (http://www.directcanada.com/category/?minorcatid=1046&vendorid=2645)

When can I expect them to have it in stock? It sounded like a great deal - that board for $108 as you said. But the don't have the Professional Silent.

How does directcanada work without inventory?